


To Lift Him Up

by phoenixreal



Category: Bleach
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Anal Sex, Drug Addiction, Drugged Sex, Gang Rape, M/M, Multi, No Fullbringer Arc, Non-Consensual Blow Jobs, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Other Additional Tags to Be Added
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-07 12:50:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,342
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21458353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/phoenixreal/pseuds/phoenixreal
Summary: Five years after losing his power, Ichigo isn't doing well. He flunks out of Tokyo University because of a drug addiction and returns home to Karakura Town. But, once he's there, his new drug dealer has other plans for him than just selling him drugs.
Relationships: Ishida Uryuu/Kurosaki Ichigo, Kurosaki Ichigo/Sado "Chad" Yasutora
Comments: 8
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Probably a short piece that was spawned from reading one too many dojinshi.

* * *

It had been five years since Ichigo lost his power. He’d moved on with life, mostly because he had no choice. Not a day went by that he didn’t miss what he’d lost, though. He had struggled to get through the rest of his school and just barely got accepted into Tokyo University. At first, he thought he could make it. It was a new start, and he had a clean slate. No one there knew about the things that had happened to him, and he was surrounded by other normal humans. Then, things just went downhill.

It started with his dorm roommate convincing him to come to a party. There were drugs and alcohol there, and he ended up experimenting with a few things for the first time. He didn’t know what exactly he’d taken, but it really made him feel good for the first time in a long time. That first time, he didn’t think he’d ever do it again. He knew it was bad and that he could get in serious trouble if anyone found out.

Then, another party happened, and he found himself going to it again. This time, when he was offered something, he asked what it was. He found out it was ketamine. The pills were small and round and didn’t take long before he started feeling very good. It was like he could get out of his head for a little while, and it felt wonderful. He spent most the evening of the party just sitting on a sofa spacing out while the party went on around him. He’d gone home with his friend and tried to go on with life.

Of course, then he wanted to feel that way more often.

He ended up asking his roommate for information on how to get more of it, and he put him in touch with the guy that dealt drugs for the parties. He was shady but alright, and Ichigo didn’t think anything of it. He could still handle himself against regular humans. It wasn’t like his fighting skills were gone or anything. He had that before and kept it afterward. He could take care of himself. He didn’t think about the fact that he was vulnerable when he was on the drug.

His grades were the first thing to be affected when he started getting the drug for himself. He just didn’t care to go to class. He would take some of the pills and curl up in his bed and stay there for most the day. He didn’t have to think for a while, and the crushing feelings of sadness and worthlessness that he’d become so used to were gone. He noticed that even when he came down off the drug, he felt a little better, but he still wanted to take it more often.

The next thing to be affected was his finances. All his money was going toward buying the ketamine. He was barely eating and had burned through most of the money his father sent him for the month is less than two weeks. He asked for more money and his father had sent him a little, more than enough to make it to the end of the month if he wasn’t spending everything on the drug. It didn’t last more than another couple weeks. This time when he called home, his father had been suspicious of why he needed so much money. He tried to play it off that it was just expenses for school, but he didn’t think he believed him.

Then, it all fell down. The end of the semester came, and he’d flunked out of all his major classes. He didn’t know what to do. He just sat staring at the computer with his grades on it, and the notice that his scholarship was canceled. He had no choice but to go home. There was nothing left for him in Tokyo.

Before he left, though, he contacted his supplier and told him that he was leaving. He was helpful, and said he knew a guy that distributed in Karakura and other small suburbs around Tokyo. He called the new guy and he told him when he was in Karakura Town and would be able to meet him. Ichigo had enough to last for about a week or more, but he’d have to figure out how to get more money from his father by then.

He came home and spent the first week in his room for the most part. He ignored his family, barely even coming out to eat. When he did come out, he avoided talking to his father and sisters. They wanted to know what happened, but Ichigo just couldn’t tell them the truth because then they’d know what he’d done. He just avoided the discussion altogether. 

That was when Ichigo’s entire world, shaky as it was, fell.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

“Pop, I’m going out!” Ichigo shouted, picking up the money he’d just been given.

“Where are you going at this time of evening?” Isshin called back, coming out of the kitchen.

“It’s nothing. I just need to walk,” Ichigo shrugged, trying to give him a reassuring smile. It felt fake even to him.

“Okay, just be careful. It’s getting dark,” Isshin said, watching him with a frown.

Ichigo shook his head. “Nothing’s gonna happen to me. I’ll be fine,” he said and stepped out the front door.

He began walking toward the outside of town. He looked at his phone where the text had come through with the address and wondered why this guy was located so far out. Well, he guessed the guy was a drug dealer. He supposed he’d want to stay away from anywhere with a lot of people, even as small as Karakura Town was. His name was Shuichi Kunieda, and he was supposed to travel a lot between the suburbs of Tokyo.

It was full dark by the time he got there. He ran a hand through his too long hair and called the number to let the guy know he was there. After a few seconds, the door to the building he was standing in front of opened.

“Ichigo-kun!” he said, smiling broadly. He was an average looking Japanese man, wearing a plain t-shirt and jeans. His eyes, though, were red and bloodshot. For some reason, those eyes set Ichigo on edge.

“Yeah, don’t call me that,” Ichigo said without thinking. “Um, so Nakai said you could hook me up with some K.”

“Yes, yes, of course. I have plenty on hand. Why don’t you come in and have a drink with me? We can celebrate our new partnership.”

Ichigo arched a brow. “I really just want to get what I came for and go home.”

“Come now, don’t turn down a free drink. I like to get to know my clients a little before I sell to them,” he said, gesturing for Ichigo to come in the building.

Ichigo looked around. He didn’t hear or see anyone else, and this guy didn’t look that formidable even if he did try to pull something. The building he was in looked like it at one time had been used as some sort of office. It was only two stories.

“Alright, just one drink,” Ichigo sighed. He figured it wouldn’t hurt, and it wasn’t like he hadn’t drank before at the university.

Ichigo followed him into a room that looked like a living room with a low futon lying in the middle of the room. There were a couple sofas on the sides of the room, almost as though the futon was the centerpiece of the room and everything else was situated around it. Weird, but who was Ichigo to say anything about this guy’s decorating choices.

“Here, have a seat here,” Kunieda said, showing him to one of the sofas. “I’ll get the cups.”

Ichigo sat down and watched as he disappeared through a door in the back. He swallowed and looked around the room. There was nothing else besides the furniture in the room; there was nothing on the walls or sitting around. Did this guy really live here or was this just a temporary place? He shook his head. This guy traveled between suburbs, so he obviously didn’t live here.

“Here we are,” Kunieda said and sat down the flat cups. He poured the sake into each of them, then picked up his own. “To our business relationship!” he said with a smirk as he sipped it.

Ichigo really just wanted to get this over with and get back home before his dad started worrying about where he was. “Yeah, to our business relationship,” he repeated and sipped the sake.

“So, tell me, why did you leave Tokyo?” Kunieda said and leaned back in the sofa with his cup.

“Ah, just didn’t do so well at Tokyo University so I came home,” Ichigo shrugged, gulping down the rest of the sake. The sooner he was done with the drink, the sooner he could get out of this place.

“Ah, I see, you’re from Karakura Town?” he asked, finishing his own drink and pouring more in Ichigo’s cup.

“Yeah, I was born here,” Ichigo said, eyeing the cup and then looking at Kunieda.

“You can have one more,” Kunieda said, smiling at him. “It won’t hurt!”

Ichigo nodded, “Alright, but that’s it. Then I want to do my business with you an get out of here,” he growled.

“Oh, of course, of course,” Kunieda smirked, and Ichigo felt a chill run down his spine. Something wasn’t right.

“Look, here, I’ve got the money, let’s get this done,” Ichigo said, standing up and feeling a heady rush he recognized all too well. “Wait a minute. You…you…”

“Hmm, yes, you should be used to it, Ichigo-kun. It’s your preferred drug. Just a little bit more than you’re used to.”

“Why?” Ichigo muttered, dropping back into the sofa, head spinning and heart racing. His chest felt funny and it was hard to breathe.

“Oh, because Nakai said you were a good-looking boy, and I’m always looking for good looking boys to use,” Kunieda smiled again, leaning over and cupping Ichigo’s face. “Now, you’re gonna be a good boy, aren’t you?”

Ichigo shook his head and heard a door open. Kunieda looked away from him and over toward the door. “This our entertainment for the night, Shuichi?” he heard.

“Yeah, got the cameras?” Kunieda asked, stroking a hand over Ichigo’s head.

“I’m not an amateur, Shu.”

“Did you get everybody on this one?” came another voice from behind him.

“Give me the restraints. What should we use? This one’s gonna fight us, I think,” Kunieda muttered.

“That’s okay, better on film that way,” another voice still. That was at least three more people.

Ichigo’s breath was still erratic and he couldn’t move. The voices were fading in an out around him. He tried to push Kunieda off as he began stripping his clothes off of him. Before he knew it, both his hands were being held by someone else as Kunieda pulled off his pants and undershorts.

“Ha! He’s naturally that color!” one of them said with a snort.

“Alright, let’s get him over to the futon.”

Ichigo struggled as much as he could, head spinning. Then, his hands were pulled behind him, and he felt something smooth being buckled onto them, holding his arms crossed behind him. He couldn’t get them free no matter how hard he tried. He was dropped onto the softness of the futon and he laid there panting. He turned his head and saw blurry figures, at least five, maybe more, and began to panic. His breath became rapid and his head even dizzier.

“Ah, shit, he’s gonna make himself pass out,” one of the voices said.

He gasped as his head was wrenched back. “Stop it, Ichigo-kun. You’re gonna be a good boy, aren’t you?”

“No, stop this!” Ichigo finally managed. “Please!”

“Aww, you’re doing so well already, Ichigo-kun,” Kunieda was close to his face. “Now, listen here. You’re going to be a good boy, want to know why?” Ichigo didn’t answer, just stared at him with wide eyes. “Because if you don’t, I’m going to make sure your sisters and your father get a copy of this footage.”

“No!” Ichigo sucked in a harsh breath. “You can’t!”

“I can. I’ll make sure they see you as we fuck you until you can’t stand. No matter what you do, this is going to happen. It’s up to you who finds out about it. If I have to gag you, I’ll ensure they get a personal copy of us raping you. I’d rather put your mouth to other uses, so it’s up to you how much you cooperate with us. Either way, you’re not getting away from us.”

Ichigo didn’t have any choice. He was still higher than he’d ever been before, and everything felt numb. Normally, this feeling was associated with positive things in his mind, but now it wouldn’t be. Now, it wouldn’t.

“Hey, you want to do the toys we brought first?”

“What, my dick’s already throbbing and you want to play with toys first?”

“Why not, get him nice and slick so it slides in when we fuck him. Don’t worry, we’ll all get a turn.”

Ichigo was panting, and tried to pull away, only to have them push him over onto his stomach and yank his hips up. He struggled against them as they pulled his legs apart and someone touched him.

“Gimme the bottle,” Kunieda said and then he felt something cold on his ass.

One of them pressed down on his shoulder with his knee, keeping him still.

“Stop it!” he gasped out as he felt someone’s fingers slide into him.

“Oh, I think he plays back here,” came Kunieda’s voice. “My fingers slid in, nice and easy. Ichigo-kun, do you finger yourself when you masturbate?”

Ichigo grit his teeth together and shook his head. He wasn’t going to answer that. He whined loudly as Kunieda twisted his fingers harshly in him.

“What was that, Ichigo-kun? Are you being a bad boy? Because I would hate to have to punish you.”

“Y-yes!” he gasped as he felt Kunieda’s fingers stretching him open harshly.

“Good boy,” he muttered, slipping his fingers out. “Now, let’s get him as excited as we are. It’s no fun if Ichigo-kun doesn’t feel good, too!”

Ichigo still felt the guy pressing down on his back with his knee. His shoulders already hurt because of the pressure on them from being pulled behind him like they were. Then, he felt something hard and cold pressing against his entrance and he tried to kick or anything, but he was held all around. He felt whatever it was slide in, thick and hard. Then there was a click and he nearly screamed as it started vibrating right against something that made his cock twitch and leak.

“There we go, look at that, he’s getting hard now,” another one said.

He panted with his face against the surface of the futon as he continued to thrust whatever it was into him and it rubbed something inside that felt so different.

“Stop, please, my head feels funny!” he cried out.

“Yeah, you like this, don’t you, Ichigo-kun?”

“Look, I can’t wait anymore. Take the vibrator out of him and fuck him already. I’m ready to get on with it.”

“Here,” the one on top of him said and moved.

Immediately, he tried to roll over only to have the back of his head grabbed and yanked up. “Here, suck on this, and if you bite me, you’ll be sorry.”

Ichigo hesitated but then his head was pulled back harder and he gasped, mouth opening. The one holding his head thrust forward into his mouth. He gagged as it hit the back of his throat.

“Oh, that’s a good look for you!”

“Now, I think I’ve played enough,” he heard Kunieda say and felt something hard and wet against him.

He squirmed a little, choking on the cock in his throat as Kunieda slammed forward. He gagged and felt tears running down his face because it _hurt_. He was sure he was going to be split apart at this rate. He was rough as he thrust back and forth hard.

“It’s fucking tight, though,” Kunieda said. “Feels good, Ichigo-kun. Your squeezing my dick so tight, you have to be feeling it, too. Look how hard your own dick is! I think you’re gonna come from being fucked the way you’re leaking, Ichigo-kun.”

“He likes it a lot! What a cock-slut!”

“I’m coming!” the one in his mouth said, thrusting hard down into his throat. Ichigo nearly choked as he felt the hot fluid exploded into his mouth.

“Oh, you bitch, swallow that!” he said, grabbing his head and pinching his nose closed, forcing him to swallow in order to breathe. “No wasting it!”

“I’m next,” another one said as he took the place of the first one. Ichigo didn’t notice a difference as another cock was pushed into his mouth.

“Oh, here we go,” Kunieda said and thrust harshly into him.

Ichigo felt his cock throb inside him as he came. He couldn’t do anything, though as the one in front of him held his head and pressed down on him.

“Turn him over, I want to see him come from my dick,” another one said, pulling him off of the one in his mouth and dropping him onto his back.

The one who was using his mouth moved and knelt beside him, wrenching his head to the side and shoving himself back in. He whined as he felt the second one thrust into him.

“He’s all sloppy now, but it’s smooth going in!”

“Make him come,” Kunieda said from nearby. “He should feel good, too.”

Ichigo wasn’t going to give them the pleasure of seeing him come, he thought as he concentrated hard on not letting himself go over the edge. But the one that was fucking him was stroking that spot inside him that felt so good, and it was so hard not to let go.

“I think he’s trying not to because he keeps tightening up on me and stopping. Here, let’s just fix that,” he said and started to grind harder down into him.

Ichigo knew he couldn’t stop it as he moaned around the cock in his mouth, whining as he came harder than he ever had before.

“Oh god, he fucking clamped down! He really likes it! Coming!” he announced and Ichigo could feel him coming into him.

“Oh, he’s really sloppy now, next?”

“Yeah, yeah, here, you take the camera, I wanna get some action too.”

Ichigo began to lose track of time then. Everyone’s voices blended together, and he just started to feel numb all over. He didn’t know how many times they made him come, but it just felt empty, not good. His head was buzzing, and he couldn’t really tell where one person ended and the next one began. He thought that they were still taking turns, but honestly, even when he wasn’t being fucked, he just laid there, out of it.

“Is he still conscious?” he heard.

“Barely. Got some hella good footage, though. One of our better ones. But the odd hair color is going to be popular, I am sure of that.”

He felt something land on him and he looked up to see Kunieda smiling at him. “There, clean yourself up and get out. We’ll be in contact. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll answer when I call.”

Ichigo laid there for what felt like a long time before he finally sat up, finding a towel had been thrown at him. He numbly wiped his face, feeling the come drying on him already. He wiped as much of it as he could, and then found they’d left his clothes beside him, too. He wiped down his legs as well as he could, still feeling the sensation of fluids oozing out of him. He got into his clothes and found his phone lying there. There were three missed calls from his dad, and it was well after one in the morning.

He stumbled to the door, his head clearing up slowly. He headed home, not knowing what else to do. His legs didn’t want to work, though, and he kept holding himself up. He felt sick to his stomach and he didn’t know if it was the drugs they’d given him, or just from what had happened.

“Ichigo?” he heard and looked up to lock eyes with Uryū.

“What are you doing out here?” he asked, horrified that someone he knew had come across him in the condition he was in. He stank of sex and who knew what else, and everything he wore was rumpled.

“I was hunting a hollow I sensed nearby,” Uryū answered. “Are you okay? Did something happen?”

“I’m fine, just don’t worry about it,” Ichigo shook his head and tried to walk past him.

Unfortunately, he dropped to his knees, the world spinning out of control. Everything faded for a little bit, then he was waking up and fighting hands that were on him. He shoved hard on someone and felt his stomach rebel, causing him to roll to his hands and knees and violently vomit in the bushes beside the walkway.

“You’re not okay, Ichigo,” Uryū’s voice pierced the haze in his mind.

He panted, sitting back on his heels and swallowing bile as it rose in his throat. “Leave me alone,” he muttered, getting slowly to his feet after a few minutes.

“Let me take you to the hospital, somethings really wrong with you,” Uryū said, trying to put his arm around him.

Ichigo flinched back, stumbling and nearly falling again. “No!” he yelled at him. “I’m fine!”

“At least let me help you get home,” Uryū tried again. “Are you drunk?”

“No,” Ichigo shook his head, but this time when Uryū put his arm around him, he didn’t push him off.

“Come on, I’ll help you,” Uryū said, doing more to support Ichigo than Ichigo would have liked.

Finally, they were outside his house. Ichigo looked up at the house and back at Uryū. “Thanks, Uryū,” he muttered and went in, leaving Uryū very confused outside.

Ichigo was glad his dad had left the door open at least. He locked it and made his way up the stairs to the bathroom. Once there, he felt his stomach recoil again, and he vomited nothing but bile this time. He got into the shower and turned the water as hot as he could stand it. He grabbed a washcloth and scrubbed himself, pausing to try and clean himself out as much as he could, but he still felt dirty no matter how much he tried. He didn’t know when he started crying but he let the hot water sting his face.

He got out and into clean clothes, seeing there was blood in the pair of undershorts he’d been wearing. He wasn’t surprised, but he just had to hope his dad didn’t notice that in the laundry. He dumped the clothes in the hamper and went to his room, putting on pajamas and crawling into bed. Everything hurt, even after the shower. He curled in on himself and hugged the pillow to himself and fell into a fitful sleep.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

The next few days, Ichigo spent in his room mostly, barely eating and ignoring everyone. Uryū had tried to call several times, but he let it go to voicemail. He even got a call from Chad that he still ignored. Then, things got a little worse.

“Ichigo! Mail!” his dad yelled.

Ichigo had no idea who would mail him something, but he went down and found a brown envelope. He took it back to his room, though, even though it looked like his dad expected him to open it there. He sat down on the bed and opened it. He nearly dropped it when he pulled out the contents. There were photos of him, from the incident a few nights ago, and a note.

“I’ll be calling soon,” was all the note said.

They had his address. They knew where he lived. He was thinking about it when his phone rang on his desk. He looked at the ID, and it said Kunieda. Ichigo’s eyes widened. He hadn’t put that number in there. He swallowed hard and answered it.

“Hello?”

“Ichigo-kun!” Kunieda’s voice was chipper. “How are you?”

“What do you want?”

“Why, you did such a good job the other night, we’re going to have you again. As you can see, we can easily get to your family and show them what happened. Unless you want a little package of photographs showing up addressed to your father, you’ll be at the same place tonight at midnight.”

The phone went off and Ichigo held it in his hand for a minute before he sat it down on the bed. Again? They wanted him again?

He got up and ran to the bathroom, throwing up everything he’d eaten for the day. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to go through that again. He didn’t want it. He started to sob into his arms as quietly as he could while he sat on the floor in the bathroom. But what choice did he have? He couldn’t let his father see those pictures. He’d already decided he was going to burn the ones that he’d been sent.

There was a knock at the door, surprising him. “Yes?” he called.

“You alright, Ichigo?” his father asked.

“Um, yeah, just stomachache,” he said, wiping his eyes. “I’m fine.”

“You’ve been acting off the last few days, are you sure you don’t want to talk about it?”

Ichigo covered his mouth as he felt his stomach roil again. Talk about it? What was he supposed to do? Tell his father he went to go buy drugs and got gang raped? If he hadn’t been buying drugs to start with, none of this would have ever happened. It was his fault, and he deserved what happened because of it.

“I’m fine, okay?” he said, trying to project his voice as much as he could, but he knew it was still weaker than it should have been.

“Alright, I’m here if you need me, okay?”

He waited until he was sure he was gone and got up to go back to his room. He sat down on the bed, then looked at the desk where the envelope was lying. He swallowed hard and felt like there was no one in the world who could help him right then.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Detective Keizo Miyoshi jumped as a folder landed on his desk. “New assignment,” his boss said.

He opened the file, frowning. “What’s this?”

Sargent Rintaro Fuchizaki sighed. “Ring of bastards that are kidnapping and raping young men on camera and then selling the films. We’ve got wind of them, but we need some hard proof. We haven’t identified any of the victims on the tapes we’ve confiscated, but there’s plenty of them. Your job is to get someone on the tapes identified and willing to testify against them.”

“That’s asking a lot. Do we have any leads on the guy that’s doing it?”

“Rumor is that it’s a drifter that comes and goes in the area. We’re working with some other departments because we think we’ve got victims in most the surrounding suburbs of Tokyo,” Fuchizaki said. “Videos are on the DVD in there that we’ve collected.”

“Am I really going to have to watch this?” Miyoshi said as he picked up the DVD.

“Only way to identify the victims is get close up shots of their faces off the DVD. You’ve got access to the people you need to pull stills for you,” he said as he walked away.

Miyoshi sighed, swallowing. Well, he needed some IDs so he figured he should get started. He headed to the computer lab and asked the tech to set him up on software that he could pull stills and zoom in on faces in a video. Before long, he was sitting there, watching the videos and trying to get facial pictures of the victims or the perpetrators. Unfortunately, none of the perps never got their face fully on camera, so it was obvious they were looking to avoid being identified. Slowly, he began pulling pictures of faces from them, finding, when he was done, he had twelve men. He printed out the faces and flipped through them. He’d tried to find the most neutral faces he could from the videos, but some of them were still obviously drugged.

He stopped on one of them. Well, that was unusual. None of the other victims stood out except this one, with bright orangey red hair. He thought that was good because that would make finding him a little easier if he was that distinctive. He sighed, starting the facial recognition program to try and go through the photos and match them up to their owners.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

“Something’s going on with Ichigo,” Uryū told Chad as they sat across from each other in the coffee shop.

“He flunked out of Tokyo University. He hasn’t been doing well,” Chad commented.

“Which is totally not like him!”

“He started having problems after he lost his powers.”

Uryū sighed. “I know. But this bad?”

Chad was silent a moment. “What made you call me?”

“The other night, I ran into him, nearly outside town, and he could barely walk. He wouldn’t tell me what happened, but I know something happened,” Uryū said with a sigh. “He got mad when I suggested he go to the hospital.”

“Ichigo tries to handle everything on his own,” Chad said.

“I don’t know what to do,” Uryū said, sipping the coffee he had.

“Unless he lets us help him, there is not much we can do,” Chad told him.

Uryū knew he was right. But he was going to do something. So, he decided to watch Ichigo and see if he did anything. He stood across from his house as dark settled around him. He was about to give up and go home when the door opened and Ichigo came out. He was hunched over and his steps were obviously heavy. He followed him easily, as Ichigo was apparently distracted because he didn’t notice him at all. Uryū recognized the same area where he’d seen Ichigo in before as they walked. He came to a building and knocked on the door. Uryū stayed back, but he could hear clearly.

“Ichigo-kun! Come in, the others are waiting for you!”

Uryū frowned. He waited and watched. After nearly three hours, the door opened again, and five men came out. He could hear them talking from where he crouched nearby.

“He’s going to make us a lot of money.”

“Having unique features helps, but aren’t you worried it will make him easier for someone to recognize?”

“Nah, just don’t distribute his videos here and we’ll be fine.”

The men moved off and Uryū couldn’t hear them anymore. He continued to wait, and finally, after almost another half an hour, Ichigo came out of the building. He wasn’t steady on his feet, and Uryū knew then that something terrible had happened to him. This just confirmed it. He followed Ichigo for a minute until he was a little way away from the building then he stepped out in front of him.

“Ichigo!”

Ichigo lifted his head, and Uryū could see his eyes were red and swollen. “Uryū?” he croaked.

“I saw you go into that building, and those other men come out. What’s happened?” Uryū demanded.

He saw Ichigo pale. “None of your business!” he snapped.

“No, this is serious, what did they do to you?” Uryū asked, stepping forward.

Ichigo crossed his arms over his chest and stepped back from him, eyes wide. “Just leave it!”

“No, Ichigo, I won’t! Something’s going on, and I’m not going to let you deal with it alone!” Uryū moved forward again, putting his hands on Ichigo’s shoulders.

“Please, don’t ask me that!” Ichigo’s voice broke a little.

“Ichigo, don’t hide from me. I want to help you,” Uryū said, voice softening and eyes.

“I can’t…I can’t tell you! I can’t tell anyone!”

“You can tell me, Ichigo. Please,” Uryū squeezed his shoulders and felt him tremble.

“B-but they said—said that they’d tell people. They said they’d _show_ my family!”

“Show your family what, Ichigo?” Uryū’s voice was still soft and barely above a whisper.

“W-what they did,” he said and Uryū realized tears were leaking down his cheeks as he spoke. “It’s my fault! I sh-shouldn’t have come here the first time, so…so I don’t know what to do!”

Uryū pulled him into a hug, wrapping his arms around his trembling shoulders. “No, Ichigo, whatever this is, it isn’t your fault.”

He felt Ichigo’s arms cling to him as he heaved a sigh and sobs wracked his body. He couldn’t say anything but Uryū didn’t try to make him talk. He just let him cry on him, holding him. He had a good idea what had happened, though. Even without Ichigo saying the words, he recognized the smell that clung to him. He’d noticed it the first night, but he thought he’d been mistaken, because why would Ichigo smell like _that_? Now he was for sure what it was.

“They’re not going to touch you again,” Uryū whispered. “We’re going to make sure of that, okay?”

“How? They’re going to show my family if I don’t come back when they call!” he gasped out.

“We’ll go to the police. We’ll get help,” Uryū rubbed his back gently.

“But I’ll have to _tell _someone. I can’t do that!”

“Yes, you can, Ichigo, I know you can. Let’s go. We need to get you to the hospital,” Uryū said softly.

“No! I’m not going there!” Ichigo said, clutching him.

Uryū sighed, swallowing. “Evidence, Ichigo, we have to get evidence for the police.”

“B-but I can’t…I can’t…”

“Ichigo, you can’t let them get away with this. And if they’re doing something like this to you, there’s others. You have to stop them,” Uryū whispered, holding him tightly. “I’ll stay with you the whole way, alright?”

“Why? Why are you doing this?” Ichigo asked, obviously tired of arguing with him.

“It doesn’t matter why, just let me help you,” Uryū said. “Let me call Chad and have him meet us there.”

“Chad?” Ichigo asked. “Why are you going to call him?”

“Because he’s worried about you, too,” Uryū said, pulling out his phone. “He’ll want to be there for you.”

Uryū held Ichigo still as he dialed Chad’s number. He had to ring him twice before he answered. “Yeah?” he said sleepily.

“I’m taking Ichigo to the hospital. Do you want to meet us there?”

“Yeah, is he okay?” Chad’s voice instantly lost the sleepy tone.

“Kind of,” Uryū said. “Just meet us there. I’ll explain there.”

“Alright,” he said and the line went dead.

“I’m scared, what are they going to do?” Ichigo whispered, and Uryū felt him trembling again.

“They’re going to help you, and so are me and Chad,” Uryū whispered and kissed his temple gently before he thought more of it.

Ichigo didn’t seem to mind, though, as they walked in the direction of the hospital. Uryū wanted to go after the guys that did this but Ichigo needed him more right now, and they were long gone. Instead, he’d have to settle on helping Ichigo turn these men into the police.


	2. Chapter 2

“I don’t want to do this,” Ichigo said as they stood outside the emergency room.

“I know, but we want to make these guys pay for what they’ve done, right?” Uryū said. “Who knows how many other people they’ve hurt. You have to do this, if not for you, for them.”

Ichigo looked at Uryū and realized he was still clinging to him. He slipped his hand down and grabbed his. “You said you’d stay with me.”

“I promise, I won’t leave if you don’t want me to,” Uryū assured. “Look, there’s Chad,” he said, pointing inside where Chad stood near the door.

Ichigo’s hand tightened on Uryū’s and they went in. They were spotted by Chad as soon as they came in. Ichigo still was unsteady, but then the drugs hadn’t all the way worn off yet. In fact, he was starting to feel lightheaded again. He grabbed onto Uryū with his other hand.

“I don’t think I feel so good,” he said quietly.

“Come on, let’s get you seen to,” Uryū said.

They approached the desk, Chad right behind them. “What’s the problem?” the nurse asked without looking up.

Ichigo froze, unable to say anything. He was supposed to tell this woman what? He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t tell some stranger what had happened. “I can’t do this,” he finally whispered. “Please, take me home.”

“Look, is there something wrong?” the nurse asked, looking up at him.

“I can’t…I can’t…” Ichigo said and started pulling away from Uryū, but his breath was also speeding up and his heart was pounding in his ears. His ears felt like they were stuffed with cotton, and the world began to fade at the edges. He vaguely heard Uryū say something and then everything just went black.

He came around slowly and blinked up at a strange ceiling. He turned his head and saw Uryū sitting beside him.

“Hey, there you are. You scared me when you passed out,” Uryū said, smiling at him.

“D-did you tell them what happened?” he asked, heart still pounding.

“I told them what I thought happened,” Uryū said. “Chad’s over there,” he pointed to the other side of the bed.

“Chad?” Ichigo asked, turning to see him sitting there.

“Ichigo, why didn’t you tell us?” he asked.

“I didn’t want anyone to know,” he said, looking away from him.

The door opened and a female doctor and nurse came into the room. “Ichigo Kurosaki?” she said.

“Um, yeah,” he answered.

“My name is Dr. Masumi Sakai, and this is my nurse, Anii Orito. I’m going to be doing you exam. Your friend said that you suffered some form of sexual assault?” she said.

Ichigo felt his face flush. “I…I guess you could say that.”

“What does that mean, Ichigo?” she asked, frowning at him.

“I mean, I went there, and it was the second time, but they said if I didn’t do what they said, they would show my family bad pictures they took of me, but they still made me take something and…and…” He stopped.

“Ichigo, this is important. Did someone force you to have sex with them?” she asked.

“I said no,” he said, looking away from her. “But then they threatened me with exposing it, and I did what they said.”

“Have you changed clothes or anything?” she asked.

“Uh, no, Uryū wanted me to come here. I really want to take a shower,” he said, looking at his hands.

She got up and retrieved a gown out of a drawer. “Take off your clothes and put this on but lay your clothes on the chair. I’ll step outside. Do you want your friends to wait outside too?”

Ichigo nodded, not looking at either Chad or Uryū. Both of them went out with the doctor and nurse, leaving him alone. He swallowed, standing up and taking off his clothes and quickly putting on the gown but he couldn’t tie it in the back, so he sat back down on the bed.

“Um, okay!” he said, and the doctor came back in with Uryū and Chad.

“Now, Ichigo, I am going to take an evidence kit and do an exam to make sure you’re not injured. Do you want to have your friends wait in the waiting room for you?”

“N-no, I don’t want them to leave,” he said nervously. “I mean, they don’t have to stay, but I don’t really want to do this alone.”

“I told you I’d stay as long as you wanted me to stay,” Uryū told him as he took a seat by the bed again. “And I’m sure Chad will stay too,” he said looking over at him.

Chad just nodded and sat down on the other side of the bed.

“Alright, Anii, please open the PRAK,” Dr. Sakai said as she moved the stool to the end of the bed.

“Um, so what do you do?” Ichigo asked as she pulled a tray over toward her with a bunch of things on it.

“Well, I’ll take swabs first. This happened recently, right?” she asked.

“Ah, just before we came here,” he said softly.

“Alright, now I’m going to put these stirrups out for you to put your feet in. Then you just lay down on the bed and scoot down close here so I can look at you,” she told him.

Ichigo did as she asked, feeling rather awkward as she pulled the sheet over him to cover him up. He put his feet up and felt extremely exposed, so he tried to keep his legs together at the knees.

“Ichigo, I need you to let your legs fall open.”

He froze for a second and shook his head. “I can’t do this,” he said. “I can’t…”

Uryū reached over and took his hand. “Ichigo, I’m right here. So’s Chad. You can do this. Just take a deep breath and relax.”

Ichigo looked at him and swallowed hard. He was trying everything he could to relax, but it was just so hard. He squeezed his eyes closed and relaxed his legs so she could see but he was still trembling. He felt her touch him with something and he jerked, squeezing Uryū’s hand tightly.

“Easy, I’m just taking the samples. You’re doing just fine. Just try and relax. You’re going to feel me touching you now, I’m just making sure you haven’t been injured. It looks like you’ve been treated roughly, have you had any bleeding?” she asked.

“Uh, I don’t know. I did the first time…”

“Well, you have a small tear, but nothing serious,” she told him. “I’ve finished with that,” she said and sat back a little. “You can put your legs down and sit up again.”

He pulled his legs down and quickly sat back up on the table. “Are you all done?”

“I am afraid not,” she said, taking off her gloves and throwing them away. “We still have a few evidence collection things to do,” she said.

“Like what?” Uryū asked rom beside Ichigo, reaching out to hold his hand.

“We need to collect samples from your hair, under your nails, your mouth, that sort of thing,” she said. “I’ll make it as quick as possible.”

Quick as possible turned into two hours before they were done, including taking pictures of him. Ichigo had developed a few bruises on his thighs and arms where he’d been bound. He was nearly exhausted completely by the time they were done with everything. It was humiliating and he wanted it to be over with. Finally, she smiled at him.

“I’ll leave you alone now.”

They watched as she left, Ichigo glad that was over. He realized he was still clutching Uryū’s hand, but he didn’t want to let it go, even now. He jerked a little when he felt Chad put a hand on his other shoulder. He swallowed, reaching up and putting his free hand on his, feeling his warmth. They were quiet until there was another knock and the door opened again, this time revealing a man in a suit.

“Ichigo Kurosaki?” he asked.

“Um, yeah?” Ichigo answered.

The man looked at him strangely for a moment then cleared his throat. “Um, I’m Detective Keizo Miyoshi. I’m here to talk to you about what happened to you.”

“I-I don’t really remember that much; I was drugged,” Ichigo said, feeling his face heat up.

“Ichigo, you do remember,” Uryū scolded.

Ichigo turned to him and sighed. Uryū wasn’t going to let him lie about it even though he really didn’t want to tell this guy what happened, especially not the truth about why he was there.

“Just so you know what’s happening, and where we are, the department has already acquired evidence of this group of people and what they’re doing. Having your help, though, will help us put a stop to what they’re doing,” Miyoshi said.

“Evidence? What kind of evidence?” Ichigo asked, wide-eyed.

“Well, we’ve acquired the movies that this group has been distributing. Including the one from what I assume is the first time you encountered these men,” he said gently.

Ichigo froze, eyes locked on this man. The movies. The police had them. The police had _seen_ them. How many other people had seen the already if the police had them?

“I can’t…I can’t really remember, no,” he said, looking down at his hands.

“Ichigo. Stop. Please, you said you wanted to stop these people. Now’s your chance. You need to tell him what happened,” Uryū said to him.

Ichigo swallowed hard and stared at Uryū for a minute. “You’ll hate me.”

Uryū blinked in confusion. “Ichigo, why would I hate you?”

“Because this is all my fault!” he blurted. “If I hadn’t gone there to begin with that night…”

“Ichigo, why did you go to them the first time?” Miyoshi asked, frowning.

Ichigo yanked his hand out of Uryū’s and covered his face, heaving a shaky sigh. “I was there to buy drugs.”

Uryū and Chad both just stared at him. “You were what?”

“See, it’s all my fault. When I was at University, I got into some drugs. That’s why I flunked out. I started taking ketamine. It made me feel good for once, and I wasn’t so depressed. Then I just kept taking it all the time, and before long, I realized it was too late to do anything about my school stuff.” Ichigo put his hands in his lap. “So, you see, when I came home, I asked the guy I was buying for if there was someone here I could buy from. He gave me Kunieda’s name and number, and I arranged to meet him there.”

“Kunieda? Do you know his full name?” Miyoshi asked, writing in his notepad.

“Uh, yeah, Shuichi Kunieda. I heard one of the other ones call him that,” he said softly.

“What happened once you were there?” Miyoshi looked up at him.

Ichigo swallowed hard. “H-he invited me in for a drink. I didn’t want to, but he wasn’t going to give me what I came for otherwise. I-I didn’t think there was any harm. B-but he drugged me. I was used to a little ketamine in the pills I took, but I don’t know how much he drugged me with. It was a lot though,” Ichigo paused, collecting his thoughts. “Then he told me Nakai, my supplier in Tokyo, s-said I was good looking and he liked to use good looking guys.”

“Is that when you figured out what was happening?”

“I still couldn’t understand. Then they were taking my clothes off and tied my hands behind me. H-he said that if I didn’t cooperate, my family would get pictures of what they were going to do. He said if he had to gag me, that he’d make sure they found out and that it was going to happen whether I did what they said or not.” He swallowed hard again. “I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t get my arms free. I tried. I really did!”

Uryū reached over and grabbed Ichigo’s hand. “Ichigo, of course you did!”

Ichigo looked at Uryū. “I didn’t want them to do what they said. I didn’t!”

Miyoshi didn’t react much, but to make notes. Uryū and Chad exchanged a look and Uryū just squeezed Ichigo’s hand.

“I know you didn’t,” Uryū said. “It’s okay. It really is.”

“How were you contacted tonight?” Miyoshi asked, looking up.

“Kunieda put his number in my phone and called me. I guess he got the number off my phone the first time I was there. H-he sent me photographs from the first time to show that he knew where I lived,” Ichigo explained.

“Did you keep the photographs?” Miyoshi jotted down notes quickly as he spoke.

“Th-they’re on my desk. What if my father looks at them?” Ichigo started to panic a little. “What if he goes in my room and sees them?”

“Ichigo, calm down,” Uryū said softly. “We’ll get them from your house, alright?”

“Ichigo, I have a plan to catch these people and put a stop to what they’re doing,” the officer said, looking squarely at Ichigo.

“Well, do it!” Ichigo said, looking at him.

“I need your help, though, Ichigo.”

“What? What can I do to help you?” Ichigo frowned, confused by the idea that he could do anything.

“I need someone to lead us to the whole bunch of them. So, that’s why I need you, Ichigo. I need you to let us follow you to the next meeting with these men,” Miyoshi said.

“What, no! I’m…you’re telling me I have to go back to meet them again?” Ichigo shook his head. “You can’t just do something about them before then?”

“This is a bad idea. Sending Ichigo back in there could get him hurt worse or even killed if those guys figure out what’s going on!” Uryū exclaimed.

“What if that happens? What will they do if they know the police are involved?” Ichigo said.

Miyoshi sighed. “I know this is risky. We don’t have any other way to track those involved, and we’d like to get them all at one time. We need this operation in order to put a stop to what they’re doing.”

“No. I’m not taking that chance!” Ichigo shook his head.

“There are others.” Miyoshi looked at Ichigo with a sad look.

“What? Others?” Ichigo asked, frowning.

“Eleven other young men like you have been victimized by this group. You are not alone. Most likely, they’ve all been blackmailed in the same way as you have.”

Ichigo was quiet for a moment as that statement sunk in. He hadn’t thought about that. He wasn’t alone in this. This was something organized and put together by these people, and the longer they were free, the more people would be hurt. He could put a stop to it, all of it. He could do something to help those other eleven people, and he could stop them from hurting anyone else.

“I’ll do it,” he whispered.

“What, no, Ichigo! You can’t!” Uryū said, looking at him.

“I have to, Uryū. I have to do something! I can’t just let them do this to other people!” he looked over at Chad who just nodded at him.

“We’ll put a man on you so you’ll be under surveillance,” Miyoshi said. “All you have to do is let me know when they contact you. They won’t know the police have been to see you, as I came here out of uniform and in my own car. We’ll mobilize on the location as soon as you can confirm that they’re present. For that, we’ll have a bug planted on you.”

Ichigo nodded. “Okay, if you think you can pull it off?”

“I know that this is our only chance to catch these guys. We haven’t identified anyone else yet on the videos, so you’re the best shot we have at catching these guys,” he told Ichigo.

“Are you sure about this?” Uryū asked him. “You’ll be taking a chance on your life.”

“I understand that,” Ichigo nodded. “But how can I look the other way while others suffer?”

Chad spoke up then. “Ichigo has to do it. It is his way.”

Uryū looked at him and nodded. “I know. But I don’t have to like it.”

Everything got silent except for the scratching of Miyoshi’s pen on his notepad. After he was done he looked up. “Where will you be staying?”

Ichigo blinked. He hadn’t thought of that. Would this put his father in danger? What about his sisters? They both were there as well. What if those men came to the house looking for him? At this time of night, how could he go home, though? It was about five in the morning.

“You can stay with us, at least today and get some sleep. We’ve been up all night almost,” Uryū said when Ichigo didn’t say anything for a while.

“With you both?” he said, frowning at him.

“Chad and I have a place. We moved in together a couple of years ago while I’m working on my medical degree and he works on training to become a boxing instructor at the new ring that’s in town. You’ve been avoiding us since you came home, so I hadn’t been able to mention it,” he said to him.

“I wouldn’t be a bother?” he asked, looking between them.

“Of course not,” Chad answered quickly.

“Alright, I’ll need the address and where you usually meet them. Do you have your phone records so I can see them?” Miyoshi asked.

“Ah, yeah,” he said, gesturing to his phone on the tray table.

Miyoshi picked it up and handed it to him. Ichigo looked through it and showed him the call record and where the number had been added to his phone. Uryū then gave their address and phone numbers to the officer, and Ichigo gave his information to him. After about another half an hour of questions for how things happened both times for Ichigo, he left, leaving Ichigo alone with Chad and Uryū.

Ichigo looked at his phone, seeing there were missed calls from his father. It appeared that his sneaking out hadn’t gone unnoticed. “I better call Pop,” he muttered, pulling up the number and calling it.

“Ichigo?” came the immediate answer on the line.

“Yeah, hey, Pop, um, I’m staying at Uryū and Chad’s place for the next couple days, okay?” he said.

There was a deep sigh on the other end. “You could have told me before you left. I’ve been worried about you all night.”

“Yeah, I’m sorry. I’m tired though so I’ll call you later tomorrow,” Ichigo had nothing else to tell him right then.

“Alright, be safe, son,” he said and hung up.

Ichigo stared at the phone. “What’s going to happen if he finds out?”

“We’ll deal with that when it comes around,” Uryū said, reaching over and taking Ichigo’s hand again.

Ichigo stared at his hand where Uryū held it, and he wondered why he was doing this. Why was he helping him? Why was he even here? They’d been here for hours already, and both Uryū and Chad had stayed with him. They didn’t need to be here at all. He swallowed hard and looked at Uryū.

“Why are you doing this?” he asked softly. He turned and looked at Chad. “Both of you. Why are you here?”

“Because we care about what happens to you, Ichigo,” Uryū said, squeezing Ichigo’s hand a little. “You’ve been through something horrible. You need someone to be there for you. And I doubt you’ll tell your father or anyone else what happened.”

“I wouldn’t have told anyone at all if you hadn’t followed me,” Ichigo said, dropping his head and staring at his hand in Uryū’s.

There was a gentle knock at the door, and it opened. It was the doctor again with something blue folded in her hands. “Ichigo, I’ve gotten everything done, and you’re going to be released. I brought you a set of disposable scrubs to wear so you can leave.”

“Oh, okay,” Ichigo said, taking the scrubs from her.

“The nurse will be back in with your discharge paperwork,” Dr. Sakai said, smiling. “Can I put you in for a referral to a trauma counselor?”

Ichigo looked at her, confused for a minute. “Why would I want that?”

She sighed. “Ichigo, you’ve been through a traumatic experience. There could be problems that come up over the next few weeks that you will need to address. Not only that, but you mentioned taking ketamine. Being off that will have an effect on your mental state.”

“I’m going to be fine,” Ichigo stated, crossing his arms in a huff. “I _am_ fine.”

The doctor sighed again and nodded. “If you change your mind, feel free to call me,” she said and handed Ichigo a card.

They were all quiet until the nurse came back and discharged Ichigo. Uryū and Chad stepped out while Ichigo changed from the gown into the scrubs he’d been given. They’d even kept his shoes, but he found a pair off slip on shoes with the clothes. When they were done, they went out, and Uryū and Chad led Ichigo to the car Chad drove.

“You got a car?” Ichigo asked as they approached.

“I bought it when I started working at the boxing ring,” Chad explained as they all climbed into it.

They got to the two-bedroom apartment where Chad and Uryū lived. It was rather plain and had only basic furniture in it.

“You can have my room. I’ll stay on the couch,” Uryū said with a nod. “I’m not that tired right now anyway.”

“Are you sure?” he asked.

“Yeah, go ahead, you need the rest.”

Ichigo nodded, following Uryū to the bedroom. He went in and closed the door behind himself. He looked around, finding a plain bedroom with a tall futon covered in blue and white patterned covers. He sat down and stared at the curtained window. For a long while he just sat there and looked at the window until he finally laid down, pulling the covers over him and falling into a restless sleep.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Ichigo didn’t get up for almost fifteen hours. It was the following evening when he came out of the bedroom. Uryū and Chad were both sitting on the sofa in the living room watching something on the television.

“I want to take a shower, but I need clothes. I can’t go home like this, though,” he said, picking at the scrubs he was wearing.

“You can wear something of mine,” Uryū said, standing up.

Uryū went to his room and came back with a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt for him to wear. “Here you are, the bathroom’s right there,” he said, pointing to the door.

“Oh, okay, thank you,” he said, disappearing into the room.

He stood for a while staring at himself in the mirror, unmoving, though. He felt a shudder go through him, and started peeling off the scrubs that he was in. He still felt grimy and gross. He turned the water on as a hot as it would go and got in. The water burned, but he didn’t care. He took a washcloth and scrubbed himself all over, just like he had the first time it had happened. He didn’t notice that he was crying, but he couldn’t help it. He just felt so lost and alone right then. The water started going cold, so he got out and put on the sweats and the t-shirt Uryū had let him borrow. He came out and saw Uryū standing by the door holding an envelope. He blinked in surprise because it looked familiar.

“Wait, what is that?” he asked, rushing over toward where he was standing with it, about to open it.

“Hmm? Oh, it was taped to the door. I heard someone outside the door, and went to check, and found this,” Uryū explained, having just broken the seal on the brown envelope.

Ichigo didn’t have any real reason to believe that it was something about him, other than the envelope’s being the same. But somehow, he knew what would be in that envelope for sure. He gasped as Uryū started to reach inside. He reached out, trying to grab it away from him, but fumbled the attempt, instead knocking it right out of Uryū’s hands to the floor. The photographs inside fell out, and Ichigo covered his mouth, feeling sick immediately. It was from the night before.

Uryū stared at the floor for a moment, unbelieving of what he was seeing, then he dropped down, gathering the photos up and a note that had fallen out. Chad had come over to see what was going on, and Ichigo knew they’d both _seen_ what had happened.

“Don’t look at those!” he tried, starting to panic. “Please!”

“Ichigo, calm down,” Chad tried.

Ichigo shook his head, backing away from Uryū. “No, please, don’t look…”

“It’s okay, Ichigo,” Uryū said, dumping the photographs back in the envelope but keeping the note in hand.

Ichigo reached out and grabbed the note, staring at it for a moment. “We can find you wherever you are. Don’t try to hide again.”

“Th-they know!” Ichigo gasped out. “How can—” he stopped, starting to hyperventilate a little.

“Ichigo, you have to calm down, you’re going to make yourself pass out,” Uryū said, stepping toward him.

Instead, Ichigo just backed away more, not really seeing Uryū or Chad in the room. He was muttering to himself about them finding him, and finally when Uryū got close enough to put a hand on his shoulder, he screamed, falling to the floor and backing into the wall behind him. Chad knelt down beside him and grabbed him in his arms, holding him against his chest while he struggled against him. Chad gently held him tight, keeping him from hurting himself and keeping him from running away from them. After a few minutes, he finally relaxed and grabbed onto Chad, wrapping his arms around him and gasping for air as he tried to calm himself down.

“Ichigo, we’re going to put a stop to this,” Uryū said, sitting down on the floor beside him.

Ichigo had found himself crying against Chad’s chest a little and he turned back to Uryū. “What if we can’t?” he whispered.

“We will,” Chad said strongly.

-oooooo-OOOOOO-oooooo-

Two weeks passed by. Ichigo stayed with Chad and Uryū a few nights, then went back home in case anything happened there. He didn’t want his family getting involved in the situation, but he couldn’t do much to stop it if something happened. He would protect his sisters, though. He had to do that much at least. During that time, Uryū and Chad came to visit almost every day. Uryū had tried to no avail to get Ichigo to reconsider the counselor. He only got angry at him for suggesting it, so he eventually stopped brining it up.

Ichigo’s family knew something odd was going on because of Chad and Uryū showing up all of a sudden. Ichigo himself was sullen and reclusive, rarely leaving his room, and hardly interacting with them. They let him be, assuming that it was something to do with how he was dealing with being kicked out of school. They didn’t know he was going through withdrawal from the ketamine as well, and going without it was making him incredibly depressed.

Then, the text message came.

_Tonight at Midnight. Don’t be late._

Ichigo stared at his phone and chewed his lip for a moment. Then he called the detective and let him know that they’d contacted him again. The detective told him to meet him at a coffee place in an hour so he could put the bug on him so they could monitor what was said. Ichigo went and met him, finding the coffee shop rather empty. Miyoshi placed the listening device on the inside of his collar. It was just a small device that stuck on with some sort of adhesive. It was only about the size of a thumbnail. Ichigo and he went over the plan, making sure they had everything in order.

The plan was simple. Ichigo was to go to the meeting place and when he got there, he was to wait until everyone showed up. Then he was supposed to say “Everyone’s here” and Miyoshi and his officers would move in on the place. Since they knew where it was, the police already had the place under surveillance.

Ichigo sat in his bedroom after dinner, staring at the wall, heart pounding as he thought of what was going to take place in an hour’s time. He kept checking the time, but found time was going slower than he could imagine as he sat there. Finally, it was time to leave. He’d purposefully not told Chad or Uryū that they’d contacted him. He didn’t want either of them getting involved in this mess. He got into it alone, and he had to get out of it alone.

So, he stood at the door and looked around. He didn’t see anyone, which was good. He called Kunieda.

“Ichigo-kun!” he heard him say cheerily. “Good, you’re here!”

“Yeah,” he said quietly. “I’m here.”

The door opened and Kunieda smiled at him brightly. Ichigo hung up the phone and tried not to retch as he dropped his arm around his shoulders. He walked him into the room that featured in Ichigo’s nightmares. However, instead of an empty futon, there was someone else sitting there in the middle already. He was nude and kneeling. Ichigo frowned and looked at Kunieda.

“Ichigo, this is Shoyo. He’s going to play with us for tonight.”

There wasn’t supposed to be someone else here. That put this guy in danger when the operation went off and the police came in. Ichigo heard a weird sound and looked over at one of the men that was standing around the futon. He had a butterfly knife. Ichigo’s eyes went wide.

“We’re going to have a little knife play. It was highly requested by your viewers, and so was seeing you with another playmate,” Kunieda said, shoving Ichigo toward the couches. “Take off your clothes so we can get started,” he said.

Ichigo looked around, counting five men. He nodded to himself. He had to do it anyway, even if there was someone else here. “Everyone’s here,” he said as he stripped his shirt off.

Kunieda looked at him strangely but didn’t say anything. He just got out of his clothes as slowly as he thought he could, dropping them on the couch. Shoyo was staring at him with wide, frightened eyes, and Ichigo wondered if he’d done this before. Kunieda grabbed Ichigo and yanked him over and pushed him down beside Shoyo.

The next few minutes went by in a flash, as there was a pounding at the door, followed by everyone turning to stare at it. The one with the knife growled and Shoyo moved to get up and run. The knife-wielder went after him, and Ichigo moved to intercept him.

“Leave him alone!” Ichigo yelled as the sound of the door breaking down surrounded him.

The man turned on him, swinging wide and slamming the knife into Ichigo’s stomach. Ichigo gasped, jerking back, knife protruding from his belly and blood flowing out of the wound.

Time slowed down then, as he dropped to his knees, the man who stabbed him, turning and trying to run from the police that were flooding the room, grabbing people and putting them in handcuffs. He heard a voice and looked up to see Miyoshi.

“Oh, Ichigo! Someone get emergency services, we have an abdominal stab wound!” he yelled.

Ichigo sat back on his heels, clutching his stomach and watching the blood rush from his body. “Is Shoyo alright?” he asked, breath hitching.

“The other guy? Yeah, he’s fine, we’ve got him,” Miyoshi said.

“Good,” Ichigo said, nodding, and fell backward in a faint.


End file.
